


The Linen Closet

by heyitsamorette (AmoretteHD)



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Best Friends, Bisexual Male Character, Bisexuality, Boys Kissing, Coming Out, Friends to Lovers, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-26
Updated: 2018-03-26
Packaged: 2019-04-08 04:53:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,639
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14097627
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AmoretteHD/pseuds/heyitsamorette
Summary: It's the first summer that Sirius is spending living with the Potters, and he has a secret to tell James.





	The Linen Closet

**Author's Note:**

  * For [starlillie](https://archiveofourown.org/users/starlillie/gifts).



> Starlillie, I hope you enjoy this little fic! Thank you to Oceaxe for looking it over. ♥

“I have to tell you something,” Sirius whispered, handing the smuggled bottle of whiskey to James.

They had swiped it from James’ dad’s liquor cabinet. His dad had thought locking spells would keep James out, but he severely underestimated James’ ability to be a sneak, especially when he and Sirius were working together. Sirius had only been there a week and they’d managed to crack it. Imagine what they could get up to with a whole summer ahead of them.

And Sirius was a permanent resident now. An honorary Potter, as James had dubbed him.

They sat cross-legged in the linen closet so they wouldn’t be caught, because no one would ever try to look for them in there. Sirius’ wand sat on the shelf above their heads, its tip glowing with Lumos and casting a soft light over them.

“What?” James asked, taking a swig of the spicy liquid and screwing his face up against the heat that rolled down his throat.

Sirius tilted his chin down and stared up at him through dark lashes. His eyes were so intense. “Promise you won’t tell anyone?”

“I can’t make promises like that.” James grinned. “It depends how funny it is.”

Sirius shook his head, showing no signs of mirth, which was odd for him. “I’m afraid it’s not at all funny.” His throat worked as he swallowed.

James didn’t like serious… Sirius. He wasn’t keen on anything overly grave, grim, or humourless in general. Serious stuff made him twitchy. He felt compelled to crack a joke or say something crass and shocking.

But he could tell this was one of those moments when Sirius was actually trying to tell him something important.

“What?” he repeated, this time with foreboding.

Sirius pushed his thick hair out of his eyes and it swooped elegantly across his forehead. He grabbed the bottle of Firewhisky out of James’ hand, throwing it back for a hefty pull. When he brought the bottle down again, his lips were red and glistening, and he licked them clean.

He wouldn’t look up at James, staring instead at a vague area by James’ knee. He inhaled, and then said quickly, “I’ve kissed a bloke.”

James didn’t entirely process the words for a second, and then their meaning came crashing over him. “Oh.”

It was all he could say. Sirius finally peered up at him, lifting only his eyes and locking them with James’. It was the first time James had seen such uncertainty on his handsome face.

“You’re fucking with me,” James said, swallowing a large gulp from the bottle if only just to avoid having to look at Sirius any longer. Something hot and uncomfortable pooled in his stomach—probably just the Firewhisky. “Who?” he demanded.

“Some knobhead from Durmstrang.”

There was another tug like someone was pulling on James’ guts.

“He was at the family party.” The one Sirius had stormed out of just before packing his bags and deciding to run away, for good.

“So he’s family?” James said, pulling a disgusted face. Mocking the situation as much as he could seemed like the best way to handle it. “Well, I shouldn’t be surprised—we all know the Blacks are fond of inbreeding.”

“He wasn’t family, you git,” Sirius drawled, sounding more like a Black than ever. Sometimes when he did that, it made James’ stomach hurt. Like right now. “His father is an old friend of my father’s, yada yada…”

“Oh, of course.” James pictured some posh Pureblooded twat in a tailored sports coat. Not something he thought Sirius was attracted to, but what did he know—apparently nothing.

Sirius had always been a lady’s man. In fact, James took notes from him, though without a modicum of his success. Sirius was charming and funny and all the girls fancied him. Hearing tales of his conquests was a highlight of Sunday nights in the dorm, as they all sat around listening to Sirius talk casually about the latest girl he slept with.

So a bloke? Where did that come from? For a moment, he wondered if Sirius was having him on, making some sort of joke. But the look in Sirius’ eyes gave him the feeling that this was absolutely true.

And why did he feel so… betrayed?

“So you’re a poof, then?”

Sirius frowned. “Why are you being a dick about this?”

“I’m not. You’re the one who brought it up. You kissed a bloke, so you must be bent. I’m only making a factual observation.”

“I’m not…” Sirius licked his lips again, looking like James had punched him. “I’m not bent, I’m just… I don’t know what I am. It’s not like I don’t like girls. But I also...”

“So did you like it?” James interrupted.

“Yes,” Sirius snapped defensively. “I did. Do you have a problem with that?” He grabbed the neck of the bottle but James was still holding onto it and he wouldn’t let go.

Sirius’ eyes widened a bit as he realized James was not going to let him have it. He tugged again, but James tugged back. They glared at each other as they played this silent game of war, an unspoken battle that had no clear motive other than both of them being too stubborn to let the other win.

“What are you doing?” Sirius asked finally.

“What are _you_ doing?”

“Trying to have a drink. Is that okay with you?”

“Of course it is.” James let it go abruptly as Sirius was pulling, and the open bottle hit Sirius in the chest and spilled over his shirt.

“What the fuck!”

“Oh, sorry.” James smirked, nastily pleased at the dark stain he could just make out in the dim light.

“Do you have a problem or something?” Sirius asked.

“Not at all.”

Sirius mumbled something under his breath as he inspected his shirt, and it sounded like, _‘Shouldn’t have even told you.’_

“So you liked it,” James said lamely, unable to keep his mouth shut. He was never very good at that, actually. He wore his feelings on his sleeve and bottling things up made him want to positively burst.

Sirius eyed him silently for a long moment. His steady, contemplative gaze made James’ skin tingle.

“What?” he demanded.

Sirius’ lips parted just the slightest, and then, with a flare of something unnamable in his eyes, he said, “Do you wanna see for yourself what it’s like?”

James balked, struggling to form words. “I…” His face became incredibly hot and he wondered if it was maybe time to get out of that closet since it was starting to lack air. “I…”

_Just say no. Just say NO, you idiot. It’s a simple word, one syllable, one purse of the lips. Not hard. All you have to do is say the word. So just do it._

Sirius was leaning in. His best mate—his gorgeous, hilarious friend—whom James loved more than anyone else in the world was shutting his eyes and bringing his face closer. When they were mere millimeters apart and he could feel Sirius’ body heat, James shut his own eyes and just… let it happen.

He had not expected the explosion of feeling in his chest when Sirius’ soft lips pressed against his own. It paralyzed him to the spot, and his heart raced a mile a minute.

Before James knew it, Sirius was pulling away. Maybe a little too soon, if he was being honest.

Sirius stopped an inch away, his breath washing hotly against James’ lips. The tip of his straight, aristocratic nose hit James’, and the intimacy and closeness of it sent waves of pleasure through James’ body. He had no choice but to lean in again, capturing Sirius’ mouth more urgently.

Sirius made a soft noise in the back of his throat, and the sound went straight to James’ cock. He didn’t realize it until too late that he had brought a hand to rest on Sirius’ knee, and pulling it away now would be painfully obvious, so he left it there, feeling the warmth of Sirius’ body as Sirius’ lips sucked gently on his own.

When Sirius pulled away again, James was still chasing his mouth. He let out an embarrassingly high-pitched sound that there was no way Sirius could have missed. And it was obvious he had heard it from the cocky grin now painting his face.

“So?” Sirius asked.

James swallowed hard and shifted in his seat, trying to hide the stiffy forming in his jeans. “That was disgusting,” he said, voice gruff.

Sirius’ grin broadened. He looked down pointedly, one eyebrow raised, and James realized he was still touching his knee.

Like a magnet, James was drawn to Sirius again, and they almost came together for the third time when a noise from the world outside the closet brought reality crashing back down.

“Shit,” James said, snapping back. “They’re home.”

Sure enough, his mother’s voice floated up the stairs asking where they were.

He grabbed the whiskey bottle. “We have to put this back before my dad notices it’s missing.”

They scrambled to their feet, and James shoved the bottle behind his back as he turned the doorknob. His parents were home earlier than he’d expected. His dad would not be impressed if he found them with one of his whiskey bottles.

As he prepared to creep down the hall to his father’s study to return it, Sirius’ hand pulled him back by the arm.

James turned and saw something in Sirius face he had never seen there before: uncertainty. A flutter seized his chest.

“Later,” he said, holding Sirius’ gaze. “Later.”

And just to prove his sincerity, he leapt forward and gave him a quick peck on the lips. The last thing he saw before turning again was the grin return to Sirius’ face.

**Author's Note:**

> Find me on tumblr at [heyitsamorette](https://heyitsamorette.tumblr.com/).


End file.
